Investor Group Honors Mass. for Website

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has awarded Massachusetts its industry contribution award for a website that eases investor access to state economic and financial data.

The website, www.massbondholder.com, was introduced two months ago and provides more than 30,000 pages of downloadable reports, audits and summaries from different state sources including Treasurer Steven Grossman's office, the executive office for administration and finance, the department of revenue, the state comptroller's office and the commonwealth's pension fund.

It also provides investors with software that Grossman's office considers cutting edge and enables investors to analyze the state's economic and financial data on a customized basis.

"The old way was not a model appropriate for an economy in the technology era," Grossman said in a Bond Buyer interview in March, when Massachusetts sold $525 million in general obligation bonds.

"Now, it doesn't matter where you are. An investor with deep interest in Massachusetts can get real-time information, whether it's on a desktop or an iPhone."

In presenting the award to Massachusetts, the NFMA said it had "chosen to honor the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for its exemplary website, www.massbondhodler.com, with its comprehensive disclosure of financial, debt and transaction information and user-friendly organization for municipal analysts and investors."

Moody's Investors Service rates the bonds Aa1, while Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings assign AA-plus ratings. Massachusetts has roughly $19 billion in debt outstanding.

The NFMA, which began in 1983, consists of nearly 1,300 members, primarily research analysts, who evaluate credit and other related risks in the municipal bond market.